Books set in Thailand

[Lacessit]

John Burdett's books are a good read. Stephen Leather's " Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon" is better than Private Dancer, IMO.

[connda]

A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery: Various novels by Colin Cotterill
Set in Laos but great reading.  Up their with John Burdett but not as nearly as dark. 
The adventures of a 72 year old Lao doctor.  They are much more interesting that that sounds.

Start with The Coroner's Lunch to get a feel for the character and the author's style. 

"

Laos, 1975: The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job, there is no one else: the rest of the educated class have fled.

He is expected to come up with the answers the party wants, but crafty and charming Dr. Siri is immune to bureaucratic pressure. At his age, he reasons, what can they do to him? And he knows he cannot fail the dead who come into his care without risk of incurring their boundless displeasure. Eternity could be a long time to have the spirits mad at you."

"Vientiane, 1980: For a man of his age and in his corner of the world, Dr. Siri, the 76-year-old former national coroner of Laos, is doing remarkably well - especially considering the fact that he is possessed by a 1,000-year-old Hmong shaman. That is, until he finds a mysterious note tied to his dog's tail."

And away you go..... 

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Siri-Paiboun-Mystery-Book/dp/B07KYRP8T1

Edited March 17, 2021 by connda

[wwest5829]

11 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Most movies set in Thailand come from an original book, you can always chase up and read the original book that the movie is based on.

Unfortunately, most books set in Thailand are set in the fictitious, stereotype, cliched version of Thailand. read one of the books and you have read most of them.

I have enjoyed watching, “Bangkok Dangerous”. True due to both starting in Prague and on to Bangkok with so many places I have visited.

[champers]

9 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The Chinaman, despite the title, is an IRA story and the hero is
Vietnamese.

Catch the movie if you can, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. Excellent film.

N.B. The film is titled The Foreigner.

Edited March 17, 2021 by champers

[wwest5829]

Father Ananda Mystery Series Book Series (4 Books) The Garden of Hell (Father Ananda Mysteries) by Nick Wilgus (2006-0... Go to book. 1. Mindfulness and Murder: A Father Ananda Mystery by Nick Wilgus (December 5, 2012)

[OneMoreFarang]

51 minutes ago, champers said:

Catch the movie if you can, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. Excellent film.

N.B. The film is titled The Foreigner.

Thanks

Most of the time I don't watch movies after I read the book because often they are disappointing. But this time it's so long ago that I read that book that I will watch the movie. I just started the download from the ...bay. ???? 

[khunPer]

On 3/13/2021 at 1:58 AM, inf said:

Has anyone read novels, thrillers, etc set in Thailand?

There are numerous, but the probably most suggested, and of prime interest for many men, is Stephen Leather's "Private Dancer", which almost is a must read, if you wish to mingle with the local beauties.

If your are into short stories I can warmly recommend Peter Jaggs' "From Beggar to Butterfly", all takes place in Pattaya, and it's very entertaining. Peter Jaggs has written a number of Thailand related novels.

A very touching novel is "On Their Own" by Colin C. Bell, a story about street children in Thailand, based on real events.

"The Samui Conspiracy" by Michael Peart takes place on Samui, as the title says, and is a real legal thriller with hi-so level murder, and a mafia-like conspiracy on a paradise island. The author was actually layer on Samui...

 

[KhaoNiaw]

Rattawut Lapcharoensap wrote a decent short story collection called Sightseeing. It made him something of an up and coming young writer but I don't think the expected novel has ever appeared.

[khunPer]

And not to forget a true story, "Railway Man" by Eric Lomax, which is also available as film/video/stream...

 

[Zuman]

+1 on the John Burdett books. I’ve also enjoyed the Poke Rafferty series by Timothy Hallinan that are set in Bangkok.

A Nail Through the Heart

The Fourth Watcher

Breathing Water

The Queen of Patpong

 The Fear Artist

For the Dead

The Hot Countries

Fool’s River 

Street Music

[LesT21]

8 hours ago, connda said:

A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery: Various novels by Colin Cotterill
Set in Laos but great reading.  Up their with John Burdett but not as nearly as dark. 
The adventures of a 72 year old Lao doctor.  They are much more interesting that that sounds.

Start with The Coroner's Lunch to get a feel for the character and the author's style. 

"

Laos, 1975: The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job, there is no one else: the rest of the educated class have fled.

He is expected to come up with the answers the party wants, but crafty and charming Dr. Siri is immune to bureaucratic pressure. At his age, he reasons, what can they do to him? And he knows he cannot fail the dead who come into his care without risk of incurring their boundless displeasure. Eternity could be a long time to have the spirits mad at you."

"Vientiane, 1980: For a man of his age and in his corner of the world, Dr. Siri, the 76-year-old former national coroner of Laos, is doing remarkably well - especially considering the fact that he is possessed by a 1,000-year-old Hmong shaman. That is, until he finds a mysterious note tied to his dog's tail."

And away you go..... 

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Siri-Paiboun-Mystery-Book/dp/B07KYRP8T1

Big Cotterill fan, have all the Dr. Siri books. Check out his Jimm Juree series set in Thailand, unfortunately on 4 books in one. Hopefully he will continue this series.

[LesT21]

11 hours ago, Fortean1 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Barrett

His books appeal to some readers.  I can't vouch for his work as I read only non-fiction.

Terry

( a few miles south of Hua Hin )

I've read and enjoyed both his Thailand based ones and his Chinese based novels. All good reading.

For non-fiction find his early 1980 'The Girls of Thailand' or 2001 'Thailand: Land of Beautiful Women', just happen to have both. Not much text, but the photos are outstanding.

Les T.

เลส ท

 

[caughtintheact]

Try "Hardcore Justice", by Howard G. Altermatt.  It is available in Kindle form from Amazon and is.....fiction....well, maybe, maybe not, and is based on real characters in Thailand, whom some of you might have known.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, allanos said:

I think "disappointed" describes my feelings about "Private Dancer", full, as it is, of all of the cliches endlessly repeated about Thai bar girls, in particular.  I found the novel, to use the eloquent expression often used by "Mr Wonderful", Canadian Kevin O'Leary, a nothing-burger!

More to my liking was "Bangkok  8", as mentioned earlier. I found it much more realistic and entertaining, with a reasonable plot and story-line.

I have a copy of Private Dancer which is next on my "to read" list, so I haven't yet read it, but my experience ( looking back ) of Thai night life and bar girls is that everything about the scene is a living cliche. I survived it by always reminding myself that bar girls don't love farangs, and it's all about money.

[Darkside Gray]

Bangkok Bob is a good read!

[RocketDog]

23 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

One of my favorites. A good part of the story is in Bangkok.

 

There is a book by the same title by Vincent Zandri also partly set in Bangkok. Part of his Sky Marshall thriller series. 

[RocketDog]

23 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

One of my favorites. A good part of the story is in Bangkok.

 

There is a book by the same title by Vincent Zandri also partly set in Bangkok. Part of his Sky Marshall thriller series. 

[RocketDog]

the Poke Rafferty series is good. I read them all. Mostly set in Bangkok. Author is Timothy Hallinan. 

[snawa]

The Wind-up Girl,  Novel by Paolo Bacigalupi, set in a slightly future Bangkok is wonderful. I love John Burdett but this is clever, funny and Thai at a different level.

[Paul Catton]

Angela Savage

Behind the Night Bazaar, The Half-Child & The Dying Beach

 

[khunpeer]

On 3/17/2021 at 6:21 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

My copy looks different. 

 

mine is a Dutch translation

[ExpatOilWorker]

Mainly set in Nam, but the does an R&R tour in Bangkok and Udon Thani.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

I enjoyed "The Beach" when i was a backpacker, they made it into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

I've never wanted to read those nonsense Private Dancer type books, most people with a brain can work out the score here

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I enjoyed "The Beach" when i was a backpacker, they made it into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

I've never wanted to read those nonsense Private Dancer type books, most people with a brain can work out the score here

Yeah, shame Leo ruined the movie.

 

Obviously most people can't work out the score, or the scams would have stopped long ago.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Yeah, shame Leo ruined the movie.

 

Obviously most people can't work out the score, or the scams would have stopped long ago.

Problem is many falang fall into the vulnerable category, desperate for a girlfriend or wife and throw money at them, they should really see them as employees, that would be more honest

[starky]

Another vote for John Burdett .

[thaibeachlovers]

On 3/18/2021 at 3:34 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

I have a copy of Private Dancer which is next on my "to read" list, so I haven't yet read it, but my experience ( looking back ) of Thai night life and bar girls is that everything about the scene is a living cliche. I survived it by always reminding myself that bar girls don't love farangs, and it's all about money.

I started reading Private Dancer tonight and got to page 68. So far it's just about a soft touch, a clever Thai bar girl and set  mostly in Nana plaza. I found the disjointed style rather annoying, and he got a lot of small things wrong, though he is spot on when describing how Pete is "protective" of the girl, even though she's obviously using him. It's a feeling I've experienced myself. I confess that I'd like to give Pete a good slapping till he understands that "she's not different".

 

It's a bit hard to work out the year he's set his story in, but as he talks about Uncle Ray's guesthouse it has to be well into last century. I've stayed there many times myself, but it's been gone for ages.

However, if it's actually when Uncle Ray's was in existence, his prices are wrong. The Dynasty charged less than the 1,000 baht a night he claims and the amount for short and long time at Nana is too high.

Also, I had to chuckle when Pete says he didn't want to take her back to the Dynasty as the staff might mock him for taking a bargirl there, when just about every farang staying there would have a bargirl for the night.

 

BTW, the author calls the bar she works at The Zombie, but from the description it is likely Hollywood Royale, a great gogo bar that passed into oblivion many years ago.